Railway-signal.



No. 821,515. PATENTED MAY 22, 1906.

J. B. LINEBACK. RAILWAY SIGNAL.

APPLIGATION FILED DEO.14, 1905.

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JOHN B. LINEBAOK, OF SILOAM SPRINGS, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOROBERTS. MORRIS, OF SILOAM SPRINGS, ARKANSAS.

RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1906.

Application filed December 14, 1905. Serial No. 291.772.

.'10r w15 whom t Amay concern;

Be it known that I, JOHN B. LINEBACK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Siloam Springs,vin the county of Benton and State ofArkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Signals and I do declarethe following to be a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in electric signals-for railways.

- The object of the invention is to provide an electric signal system ofthis character which will be simple in operation and inexpensive toinstall and bymeans of which train despatchers and operators, theengineers and crews of trains, and others along the track and at thestations between which a train is moving will benotified of the approachof a train or. trains and suitable signals. may be sent from eitherstation to the engineer on the moving tra-in between them for thepurpose of warning or notifying him of any dani With the above and otherobjects in view the invention consists of certain novel features ofconstruction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will behereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a diagrammatic view of aportion of asingletrack railway equipped with my improved electricsignal system, and Fig. 2 is a similar view showing a slightly-modifiedform of the j system.

In the practice of my invention I arrange along the opposite sides of arailway-track T rows of lights l 2, which extend between adjacentstations A, B, and C along the line. Each of these rows of lights isincluded in an electric circuit 3, which extends from one station to thenext adjacent station and which includes the conductors, theincandescent or other electric lights, a switch 4, and an electricgenerator 5 which may be in the form of a dynamo, a dry or wet battery,or of any other form. One of the generators 5 is preferably provided ateach of the stations, and it is connected up with two of the electriccircuits which lead in opposite directions from such station to the twonext adjacent stations and which have their rows of lights arranged uponopposite sides of the track T.

If desired, the electric current may be supplied from an electric plantat places where there is such, and the dynamo or generator 5 may then beheld in reserve for use in case of an emergency. The switch 4 may be ofany desired form and construction and may be located in any desiredpoint in or about the station, so that it may be readily operated by thetrain despatcher or operator, the conductors of the trains, or otheroflicials at the station. While the lights l 2 may be of any form andconstruction, I preferably employ the usual incandescent electric lampsand arrange them at suitable intervals, preferably one at about everyhalf or quarter mile, and I also preferably have one located in oradjacent to the station, so as to be readily seen by persons who operateor have charge of the switch 4. This permits them to determine thecondition of the track and to receive signais from the next adjacentstation, as previously explained. By arranging thecircuits as shown inthe drawings, so that the two rows of lights leading in the oppositedirections from each station are located upon opposite sides of thetrack, the engineer on moving trains will always have the row of lightsleading from the station from which he is moving upon his left and therow of lights leading from the station toward which he is moving uponhis right, thus permitting him to readily distinguish whether there isdanger ahead or in rear. j

The operation of the system is as follows: Supposing the train should beat station B and headed toward station A, the conductor of the train,the traindespatcher, or other designated oflicial closes the switch 4 ofthe circuit leading from B to A before the train leaves B. As soon asthis circuit is completed the lights 1 are illuminated, and the one atstation A informs the traiirdespatcher at that point that there is atrain moving over the track from B to A. Should there be a train on thetrack moving from B to A, that fact will be indicated by theillumination of the lights 2 in the circuit leading from station B tostation A, and the engineer on the two trains will be warned. By openingand closing the switches 4 signals may be flashed over the electriccircuit, so as to send messages of warning to the train-engineers or thetraindespatchers. Any code of signals may be devised for thispurpose-for instance, a

IOO

steady light will indicate that a train is on the track between the twostations, a series of regular flashes indicate that a train hasarrived'at the station from which the signal is sent, a series of threeubroken flashes indicate that a train is following another from onestation to the next, four broken flashes indicate that there is dangerin the rear, and so on. Flashes, long and short, at different intervalsmay indicate any desired message which it might be desired to transmitfrom one station to the other or from one station to the engineer orother person upon the moving train. It will be understood that eitherwhite or red lights-or lights of any other color may be used in thissystem.

In Fig. 2 of the drawings I have shown a double electric circuitextending from each station to the next adjacent station, and in one ofthe circuits is included a row of white lights 10 and in the othercircuit a row of red or other colored lights 11; The row of white lightsis used for transmitting signals such as the arrival of a train at thestation from which the signal is sent, while the row of red lights isused Where there is danger and it is desired to warn the engineers ortrain-despatchers. A single switch l2 is employed for controlling boththe red and white light vcircuits between each station, as will bereadily seen upon reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The use and advantages of the invention will be readily understood fromthe foregoing description, taken in connection with= the ac companyingdrawings. It will beA seen that collisions and other accidents may berendered almost impossible by the use of this system. The train may berecalled at any point after leaving the station, and notice of arun-away engine or other danger along the track may be transmitted tothe engineer or the crew on a moving train. It will also be notedthatthe system is exceedingly simple to understand and operate, andowing to its simple construction the cost of installing it will becomparatively small.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details ofconstruction may be resorted to without departing from the prin= cipleor sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention as defined by theappended claims, j

` Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a railway-track and stations located atintervals therealong, of electric circuits extending from each of saidstations in opposite directions toward the next adjacent stations andarranged upon opposite sides of said track, translating devices in saidcircuits arranged at intervals along saidv track and at the nextadjacent sta# tions, electric generators at said stations for supplyingelectric current to said circuits and switches for opening and closingsaid circuits.

2. The combination with a railwaytrack and stations located at intervalstherealong, of electric circuits extending from each of said stations inopposite directions toward the next adjacent stations and arranged uponopposite sides of said track, electric lamps in said circuits atintervals along said track and at the adjacent stations, electricgenerators at said stations for supplying electric current to saidcircuits and switches in said circuits at said stations, substantiallyas described and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOHN B. LINEBACK.

Witnesses:

SAMUEL J. MURPHY, JOHN L. BREWNING.

